“If you have ever been fortunate enough to see Maya Angelou perform her poetry, you have been drawn into her world where cultural boundaries blur, where language breaths with fluency from many countries, where words pulse with democratic rhythms, and carry an unwavering message of hope and optimism,” wrote Joanne V. Gabbin in an introduction to Maya Angelou – The People’s Poet Laureate. 

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is a 1969 autobiography describing the early years of American writer, civil rights activist and legendary poet Maya Angelou. The poem is metaphor about racial oppression and injustice and a yearning for freedom and equality – a world where people are not judged by the color of their skin. 

Simerjeet Singh reads I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in our next episode of the Poetry That Inspires Series. 

Regards, TeamSJS

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind   
and floats downstream   
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and   
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   
with a fearful trill   
of things unknown   
but longed for still   
and his tune is heard   
on the distant hill   
for the caged bird   
sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams   
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream   
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied   
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   
with a fearful trill   
of things unknown   
but longed for still   
and his tune is heard   
on the distant hill   
for the caged bird   
sings of freedom.

Watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/syNrRDRKzJQ

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